Coffee Shops are for me

The other day I was introduced to yet another French coffee shop in my area and I must say the warm blueberry-filled crepes dusted with powder sugar were absolutely delicious, but my waiter did not look anything like the fellow pictured above and the coffee shop did not look like anything pictured below.









No, I guess one must go off to Europe, take a trip back in time... or find a book like this one, "The French Cafe" by Marie-France Boyer, a book that can take you away to  Romantic coffee houses.



Here in the States there are coffee houses to be had, but they look more like this.

[caption id="attachment_927" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Starbucks in Brentwood, California[/caption][caption id="attachment_928" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Another view[/caption]

And here's my favorite view because it contains a picture of my son Patrick working hard at his statistics .

[caption id="attachment_923" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I was impressed because this Starbucks had live orchids on some tables. Do you see one in the background?[/caption]

            But nice as it was, and I came here a number of times myself, there were no waiters in black tie nor any white tablecloths to be seen.  Sigh!

But Starbucks does have a good dark espresso roast so I'm happy there, and do you know -  if you buy their coffee in bags, you can bring your empty bag  back to the shop and turn it in  for a free cup of coffee? ( I learned that by reading the small print on the bag.)

But my favorite coffee shop in Hudson is Caribou Coffee.  This is because I like the cute little building that houses the shop.  There's a wall of windows to my left and I enjoy sitting here looking toward the fireplace.

[caption id="attachment_926" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Caribou Coffee[/caption]

It's usually quite crowded, but at this moment everyone hit the road and I have the place to myself.  Well, almost...

[caption id="attachment_933" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The nice fellow who works the counter[/caption]

I do have the company of the nice fellow who works the counter.  He's so sweet and friendly.  See?  He's waving to you.

Do you enjoy spending time in coffee houses as I do?  A coffee house is a great place to read a book, write a letter, meet a friend,  plug your laptop in and create posts for your blog  or reach out to the whole world via internet while sipping a cappuccino.

My "dead friend" Lord Byron said, "Only in letter writing do we have solitude and society simultaneously", but though he has a point there, coffee houses also grant  a certain amount of solitude while we're enjoying  people all around.

You can even make new friends while enjoying a coffee house.  I met a lovely man recently by the name of  David.  He is old enough to be my father, so don't worry.  There's no hanky- panky going on, just friendly conversation.  It's always so nice to meet interesting new people, don't you agree?  David worked in theatre and public relations, but  he also creates beautiful leather goods.  Every time we see each other at the coffee house I learn more and more interesting things about this accomplished man, and isn't that how friendship is?  Was I surprised when he gave me this lovely pencil case which he made with his very own two hands.  How sweet is that?  I would've never met David nor enjoyed owning such a great pencil case if it weren't for my love of coffee houses.

[caption id="attachment_938" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This luxurious "naked" finish leather is drum-dyed, not spray painted and is without the fillers, pigments and plastic coatings found on commercial-trade leathers. The result is a warm natural look and buttery-soft suppleness found only in superb "naked" leather[/caption]

And look how much I've learned about leather, and now you're learning about "naked" finish leather too, and all because I frequent coffee houses

So

Unless you're reading this in France you may not be able to find  coffee shops where waiters are wearing black tie and carrying  white towels, and you may not find coffee shops with white tablecloths, but nevertheless,  GO!...

Go to a coffee shop.

Read!

Write!

Meet People!

Coffee shops are great!

They're for me and maybe they're for you too.

Let me know what you think.